I began the deep, measured breathing my father had taught me while at Bloodville. Drawing the mana rich air of Stygia deep into my lungs. Slowly, the transition began, my senses losing one after the other. 

The first to go was my scent. The soothing, herbal aroma of the candles simply ceased to exist, replaced by a vacuum that smelled of nothingness. Then, my hearing faded. The anxious rasp of Proteus's breathing were swallowed by silence. Finally, the sensation of the floor beneath me and the smooth texture of my tunic against my skin dissolved. Only a spark of my consciousness remain in the void. 

​My eyes fluttered open, not to the room, but to a vast void. It was made of darkness, speckled with tiny, scattered lights I believed were distant stars. I tried to move, but I felt anchored in place. My form invisible.

​Then, the void rippled.

​A wave of colors, moving in hypnotic rhythm, swept across the darkness. This appeared as a spectrum of Light. But truly, it represented the forms of mana as it existed, before it was filtered through the physical world. I watched in a awe as the different forces of Enora manifested, each representing the essence of the races.

​I saw the golden pure mana, the source from which all things flowed. From it, solid earthy brown, silky green, silver, red gas, black liquid, spread out. 

​Suddenly, a dark red viscous fluid drifted closer. This was the mana of the Lamians. It touched me, shifting into different physical states simultaneously. The heat of flowing blood, and the jagged, bone chilling hardness of coagulated blood.

​The nauseous pull intensified, yanking me through the spectrum of mana. Blood weaved back into my flesh, spinning like a loom. My bones regenerated, knitting themselves together. This void, the astral realm, was rebuilding my mana vessels, expanding my enlightenment to be more resilient than before.

​Previously, my power had been subtle. I could only lightly manipulate my internal blood flow or momentarily strengthen my organs to stave off the onset of fatigue, using blood mana to draw oxygen into my muscles. This reimbursed me with strength. It was a survival tactic, nothing more. But now, in the astral realm, the potential was expanding into something greater. This was just of the Art of Blood Mana. 

​The mana began to flow through me, strong and vibrant. Blood mana bent to my will effortlessly in the astral realm. I conjured spellforms repeatedly, testing the boundaries of my new enlightenment. I shaped the blood into solid, steel hard blades. Each incantation unfurled with ease.

​In this realm time became a meaningless concept. I could not tell if how much time had past. I only knew that something within me had changed. That was my connection to blood mana and the lice essence within it.

​Then, the fatigue returned pulling unto my mind. The dark contours of the void began to melt away, the vibrant colors that formed a river bled back into a dull, flat black. The shift back to the physical world was nerve tingling. My mind felt rushing out of the void.

​My senses jolted awake with a wave of uneasy nausea that made my stomach churn. I opened my eyes to the familiar, dim sight of my room. The candles had burned low, with their scent returning to my nostrils with an overwhelming intensity. Proteus remained seated a short distance away, his eyes wide and his hands trembling as he watched me return.

​Eager to harness the magic I had unlocked, I drew myself into meditation. My sensitivity to the mana coursing through my veins had sharpened. I reached out with my will and the ambient blood mana around me responded like an extension of my body.

​Pools of crimson blood hovered in the air. It had a vivid texture. I could feel the liquid thickness, the emulsion the blood against my mental senses as if I were touching it with my bare hands. It felt as natural as a limb.

​With a single, focused thought, I triggered the coagulation. I felt the temperature of the mana drop as the molecules bonded, making the hovering blood as hard steel. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I turned it back into a fluid, swirling it around my fingers.

​I guided the blood through every phase, until the magic flowed seamlessly with my will. I was no longer fighting the mana. Satisfied, I redirected the blood back into my body. It sank deep into my heart, expanding my mana pool. The sensation of power was so great I feared for a moment I might burst.

​Proteus looked utterly flabbergasted, his mouth agape. "You've gained enlightenment... on your first trial," he whispered, his voice thick with a deep, reverent awe that bordered on fear. "I always knew you were sharp and determined, Master Kalon, but this... this is a feat beyond the norm. Perhaps... perhaps even a humble one like me may learn from you, if I may be so bold."

​I chuckled softly, the sound of my own voice felt deeper. "This is merely the beginning, Proteus. Controlling mana is like learning to walk for any Celestial. To face what lay ahead, I must learn to master this magic until it becomes as natural as breathing. I will not be the one who falls."

​I stood up, my body feeling lighter than it ever had, the fatigue gone. "Now, let's return to the Hall of Knowledge. I need to gather more enlightenment before this feeling fades."

​I ignored the weary, defeated sigh that escaped my Drunt. As I changed into fresh, grey tunic, my thoughts wandered to Damon. We hadn't exchanged a word since the day he led me to the library doors. I felt a sudden curiosity about the genius he was known to be. Was his enlightenment as visceral as mine? Or was he merely playing at power?

​I reached for the transmission scroll, my fingers steady. I crafted a long, detailed note, sharing the experiences of the astral transition and the recent enlightenment I had gained. The ink glowed with a golden hue then returned to black ink. The message had gone through.

I wanted him to know I was catching up. Once satisfied, I packed my bag and made for the door.

​Just as I reached it, the handle turned from the outside. The door swung open, and the faces of Damon and, to my immediate annoyance, Ariadne, greeted me.

​"Damon, Ariadne? What a surprise. I wasn't exactly expecting to see her here," I remarked, my irritation barely veiled.

​Damon, ever the perceptive one, seemed ready. Definitely he would offer a carefully sorted explanation for her presence, but Ariadne was not a girl who waited for permission to speak.

​"But now I'm here," she said, her hazel green eyes scanning my room with bluntness. "Where are you headed in such a rush, Bloodborn?"

​"Where else? The Hall of Knowledge," I replied, a heavy sigh escaping as I braced myself for another verbal sparring session. "Seems it's the only place in this city where I can find a moment of peace."

​Damon brows twitched. The muscles of his face stiffened as he grew exasperated with the immediate tension. He threw up his hands in a gesture of pure defeat. "Ah! It's always like this with you two. Can't you stop for even a second?"

​"Who?" Ariadne and I asked in perfect, chilling unison.

​Damon let out a deep sigh, as if weighed down by the sheer inevitability of our clashing auras. "We actually came to invite you out of the Citadel, Kalon. An outing. Real air, real sun, and real danger."

​I looked at them, the spark of my recent enlightenment still fresh as my blood mana pulsed greatly. The thought of an outing crossed my mind, a fleeting moment of fun, perhaps something light hearted to break the cycle of study. But the weight of my unfinished research was a heavy burden.

​Ariadne, with her usual bluntness, cut through my hesitation. "I'd stick with the first idea if I were you, but this isn't just a casual walk in the park. We need to get you a magical beast of your own. You're a liability on foot. And besides," she added, a mischievous, sharp grin formed across her lips, "Selene said we should teach you how to fly. You didn't mention you were grounded, Kalon. How does a Lamian get to your age without knowing how to touch the clouds?"

​Her cold words struck right through me. Surprising and deeply irritating. I turned back toward the closet to hide the flush of embarrassment. "That detail must've slipped my mind. It's the landscape in Bloodville. It didn't exactly lend itself to flying lessons. Too many trees, not enough sky."

​I reached into the closet and pulled out a long, traveler coat, draping it over my tunic. The weight was comforting.

​"Fine," I said, turning back to them. "Let's go find a beast."